


Two Potted Pines and a Hole in the Wall

by TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, Author know nothing about construction and buildings, Bookstores, Fluff, Implied Getting Together, Implied Proposal, M/M, Meet-Cute, No Plot/Plotless, Pre-Slash, Shop owner Derek Hale, Shop owner Stiles Stilinski, Strangers to Friends, author prefers to keep it that way so just go with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving/pseuds/TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving
Summary: ...his feet take him across the room just in time to put his hands on the man to keep him from toppling over and fall through the hole and injure himself, not caring for the faint sound of shattering glass.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 4
Kudos: 87
Collections: The Sterek Secret Santa - Edition 2019





	Two Potted Pines and a Hole in the Wall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HotaruYuki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotaruYuki/gifts).



> Made for the [stereksecretsanta](https://stereksecretsanta.tumblr.com/) as a gift for [hotaruyuki](https://hotaruyuki.tumblr.com/). I hope you, and everybody else will enjoy this little thing.
> 
> Comments, kudos and title suggestions are appreciated. If I forgot a tag or ten let me know and I'll add it

It’s movie worthy, definitely not something that should happen on an ordinary Tuesday shortly before December. And yet it happens at precisely seven minutes to ten on that very Tuesday morning, while Derek’s in the middle of decorating the two small trees his sister had brought from the nursery, the smell of baking bread and cooling cookies hanging mouth watering in the air.

For a few weeks workers had been in and out of the space next door, bringing with them the ruckus of power tools and people yelling to be heard above said tools. The noise had been annoying, grating on his nerves, but he’d taken comfort from the fact they usually didn’t start before seven or later and that they’d eventually be done, not to mention they’d been good for business. Soon they’d packed up their things and left at the end of one day not being there the next.

It hadn’t been deserted though; Derek had seen the back of someone going through the door, had heard what could be furniture being dragged across the floor and various other noises indicating there would probably be a shop next to Derek’s soon.  
But today’s been quiet, and like he’s done every year since Laura conned him into opening his little bakery, Derek - after the morning rush was over and Isaac had left for class - turned the sign on the door to ‘closed’ and got lost in the task of decorating.

A pounding sound pulls Derek from his thoughts, and once he’s focused on it he can’t ignore it. Lifting his head he is met by the expected sight of the beverage making machinery and the stacks of to-go-cups, the open floor space between that and the counter, the old fashioned looking till at one end and the pick-up station closest to where he currently is, with various syrups, stirrers, packaged sugar, sweetener and creamer and a million other things he doesn’t care about and the existence of which he’s outsourced to his manager, Erica, who knows about these things. (Derek _bakes_ , everything else is Laura’s fault. Thankfully she also hired Erica without whom he’d be lost).

The sound is familiar but before Derek can make out what it might be it suddenly grows louder, morphs into something akin to smashing porcelain (not a single plate, but the entire cabinet) followed by a bemused “eum… oops,” raising questioningly at the end.  
Turning, the pretzel shaped ornament he was about to hang on the tree still dangling from between his fingers, Derek finally locates the source of the noise. In the wall Derek’s shop shares with the one next door - the wall Derek had _thought_ was a solid concrete common wall - is a hole that might be big enough for him to wiggle through with a man standing on the other side, a hammer clutched in his still raised hand, a few nails sticking out between plush lips, eyes wide with surprised shock.

Everything is still and quiet, the two of them locked in a disbelieving staring contest - seems Derek wasn’t the only one thinking that had been solid wall - and then, like the snap of fingers, the world starts moving once more, the man wobbling, leaning a little too far forward and realizing he’s falling Derek’s knees straighten and his feet take him across the room just in time to put his hands on the man to keep him from toppling over and fall through the hole and injure himself, not caring for the faint sound of shattering glass.

This close Derek can see the faintest hint of stubble, a smattering of moles on pale skin and lang, dark eyelashes framing a pair of amber brown eyes. Beneath the palms of his hands the man’s stomach muscles twitch with his movement as he steadies himself, Derek only reluctantly loosening his grip when he’s certain the danger has passed.

“This was not how I imagined meeting my new neighbour,” the man’s voice is warm and deep, laced with the grin clear on his face; for some reason he doesn’t seem the least bit worried he nearly fell to his death moments ago (Derek _might_ be a bit dramatic, it probably wouldn’t have been more than a few bruises and maybe a bend rib, which - while painful and not something to joke about - not immediately life threatening).

Taking a step down from where he’d apparently been standing on a footstool, he reaches out his hand. “I’m Stiles, thank you for saving me from myself.”

“Anytime,” he says, distracted by the fact that despite being an inch or two shorter, Stiles’ hand is quite a bit larger than his own and there are a few moles on the back of it matching the ones Derek has already noticed on his face.

Stiles laughs, genuine and delighted. “I’m gonna hold you to that, dude. I might’ve grown into my limbs but I still trip over thin air from time to time.”

“Don’t call me dude,” Derek says, extracting his hand from Stiles’ because he realizes they’ve been shaking for at least thirty seconds more than is usual. He also immediately has to suppress the urge to face palm as he remembers never actually introducing himself.

“Derek. My name’s Derek.” He sweeps out his hand, encompassing the room, “and this is ‘Hale’s Sweets’, finest bakery in the street.”

Stiles leans closer and sticks his head through the hole in the wall, takes his time looking around the shop.  
“Pleasure to meet you, Derek.” He hesitates for a moment, looks down to take in the damage before him. “Maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee as a thank you for saving me, and figure out what to do with this?”

That’s how Erica finds them when she gets back a little before three to get ready for the afternoon reopening. Stiles is telling a story about the shenanigans he and his best friend, Scott, had gotten into in high school, whole body moving and arms flinging this way and that, Derek with his head thrown back in laughter; there are no decorations hanging from the ceiling or in the window, one tree is half way decorated while the other isn’t. She grins and backs up without making a sound, quickly scribbling a note and then sneaks out the back door. As soon as it closes behind her she shoots off a two word text;  
_It worked_

* * *

Laura had taken one look at the young man before handing him the contract for the other half of the building housing ‘Hale’s Sweets’. Letting him read through it she went and told her secretary to cancel the rest of her appointments before calling Erica, asking her to get there as fast as she could.

Getting back to her office the young man had looked up and asked for a few days to have someone look it over. Laura had happily agreed and waved him of in time for Erica to catch a glimpse of him.

It had taken them less than an hour to come up with a plan and only a little while longer to set it in motion. Erica being married to a bricklayer sped up that part of the plan involving renovating the space.

He’d been back two days later with a feisty red head who’d made demands Laura was willing to meet and soon the contract was signed, Stiles - as he’d told her to call him - leaving with a copy while Laura’s secretary had filed away the original and Laura had congratulated herself with her own brilliance.

Laura had known from the second she saw him, that Stiles would be perfect for her brother. Sure, she could’ve done what normal people do and introduced the two to each other, but seeing as she didn’t know Stiles and Derek didn’t like meeting new people that wasn’t really an option. And as she’d said to Eric, where was the fun in that, anyway? Besides, it wasn’t some nefarious plan to gain world domination, more a ploy to create the best circumstances for her brother to meet someone interesting that she thought he would hit it off with.

The renovations got done in record time. Luckily the door that had originally been between the two parts of the building was still there, had only been walled on either side; getting it free on Derek’s side had been a matter of waiting for her brother’s day off and then have the crew work as fast as possible. Luckily Derek wasn’t in the habit of staring at the walls which meant he probably wouldn’t notice anything amiss.  
They’d uncovered and cleared the door opening and then made it look like a solid concrete wall, figuring that at some point someone was going to hang something there.

The text from Erica confirmed that Laura made the _best_ plans.

* * *

For some reason they never get around to fix the hole in the wall.

Derek watches the space take form, sees how differently Stiles shapes it compared to his own. Shelves filled with books hang among different movie posters and paintings by local artists - little, discreet plaques informing the viewer of their names and in some cases the price of the pieces - potted plants hang in the windows and are placed on a few tables at the armchairs.

When neither’s busy they often find themselves in deep conversation through the wall, Stiles talking with his whole body and Derek listening intently, often laughing at something the other say to Erica’s wordless amusement and wonder. She’s worked for him since he opened ‘Hale’s Sweets’ and has never heard him laugh neither as frequent nor as loud.

Months passes and Derek and Stiles’ friendship grows with each passing day. They graduate from only talking through the hole in the wall during the day to the exchange of numbers and subsequent texting to doing things together outside of business.  
The first time Derek meets Stiles’ friends is a Friday night at a nearby bar. When he arrives they’re all half way towards drunk but they’re nice and welcoming; not necessarily people Derek would’ve chosen for himself but being thrown in among them he finds that he likes them, think they could his friends, too.

It’s a while later Stiles finds out his landlady is actually Derek’s sister.  
He’d fallen asleep in his tiny office and wakes to raised voices from Derek’s side of the building. Blinking owlishly at his watch he groans when he manages to make sense of the blinking numbers and, hoping Derek has some coffee he might be willing to part with, he gets up and makes his way to the wall.

Despite the early hour he recognizes Laura Hale instantly where she’s jabbing a finger at Derek’s chest, the man grimaces and catches her hand on its next inward jab. Stiles clears his throat, catching their attention; seeing him she smiles brightly while Derek looks like he’d just bitten into the world’s sourest lemon. Still, he reaches for a steaming cup on the counter and a package of sugar with his other hand, expertly rips it open and dumps the contents into the cup, then he stirs while stepping closer to the hole in the wall, handing the cup to Stiles who eagerly grabs it and takes a careful sip.

”Stiles, my sister Laura. Laura please leave,” Derek says just as Laura happily exclaims; “Stiles!” and runs up to awkwardly hug him through the wall. Derek rolls his eyes and takes the cup from Stiles almost as if he’d expected this to happen.

”In a minute, brother dear,” Laura says, her attention focused solely on Stiles.

”Ms Hale,” Stiles starts only to be cut of by a “call me Laura. After all you’re my favorite tenant. Not to mention everything I’ve heard about you and your shop; quite impressive. But have you ever considered getting a partner? Expanding your product range?”

Stiles stares at her, then at Derek who looks like the proverbial deer caught in headlights; he can’t believe he didn’t think of that. How many times has he watched potential customers walk in from Derek’s shop with a freshly baked bun or a slice of pie and a cup of coffee only to sit down at the tables in Stiles’ shop to eat and drink before browsing his wares. Not to mention every time someone comments of the heavenly scents drifting through the wall, and when leaving his shop turn left towards ‘Hale’s Sweets’ (Stiles having a ‘duh’ moment when he realizes he should’ve known Laura Hale and Derek were related long before today) to sate their sweet tooth.

”That’s,” he hesitantly begins, catching Derek’s eyes and whatever the man sees in his gaze has him relaxing, giving Stiles the confidence to finish his sentence, “actually a great idea. Derek?” The man nods in response, Laura beaming at the two of them.

”Now that’s cause for celebration. Stiles, are you busy tonight?” he shakes his head and Laura continues, “awesome. Then maybe you and that red headed friend of yours would like to come to dinner tonight. We could talk business and get to know each other.”  
Behind her Derek was shaking his head but Stiles grinned and said he’d call Lydia right away, see if she was free.

* * *

Enough days had passed for the last Tuesday of November to roll around once more. Cora had delivered two new pines the day before - last year’s back outside where they belonged - and Derek had gotten the decorations out of storage.  
The morning rush was over, the sign flipped to ‘closed’ and both Erica and Isaac had the rest of the day off. Music was playing quietly over the speakers, the smell of freshly baked goods hanging heavy in the air.

Stepping from the kitchen into the shop itself Derek couldn’t help ponder the difference from last year. He and Stiles had decided to merge their shops and the easiest way to do so was getting rid of the common wall (after making sure it wasn’t load bearing); they’d then had the workmen make another wall at waist height with a wide opening to keep the spaces apart while still a unit.  
The café style tables and potted plants spilled into Derek’s space, the coffee brewing migrated to Stiles’ and books were everywhere and at some point all of it became their space.

Now, with no customers in sight, Stiles was dancing to and singing along with the music. Derek sat the chest on the counter smiling at the sight; Stiles had no rhythm whatsoever and his singing wasn’t ever going to win him any awards, but he was enjoying himself, his joy infectious and Derek took a step closer, then one more and when Stiles turned in his direction put his arms around him, slowly swaying them around the room.  
Stiles trips and steps on his foot, Derek bumps into a chair knocking it over and still they keep moving, smiling at each other as one song ends and the next begins.

It’s dark outside when they open the box, on top of all the decorations two small, black boxes containing the jeweled promise of forever.

End


End file.
